Representatives from the city of Newark watch as a truck hauls away barricades Wednesday morning after opening the South Second Street Bridge for traffic.

Written by

Joe Williams
Advocate Reporter

Engineer Doug Mill said "through the luck of the draw," he became the first motorist to drive over the newly reopened South Second Street Bridge on a rainy Wednesday morning.

"I think the weather helped," Mill said. "I was just driving on down to see the ribbon cutting. They said, 'Drive on across,' so I did."

Mayor Jeff Hall had planned to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. before reopening the bridge, which ODOT officials declared unsafe and ordered closed May 1. However, a steady rain caused the mayor to cancel his ceremony in favor of removing the barricades, opening the bridge to ...